Can you answer, what is Adobe AIR? Anyone interested in rich internet applications will want to know the answer to this question. Most computer users utilize a Web browser (Firefox or Internet Explorer) or a desktop application (a word processor or media player) to interact with digital information. Applications made with Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) try to utilize the best of both the online and the desktop world.
Technology Behind Adobe AIR: With Adobe AIR, software developers can utilize HTML/Ajax, Flex or Flash to create rich Internet applications that users can run from their desktop on any of the three primary consumer operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X and Linux). HTML/Ajax is the most common way information is relayed to you on a Web page, but, if you have watched a movie online, it was probably a Flash movie.
Apps Built With Adobe AIR: Many apps use Adobe AIR, from desktop replacement options like Klok (a calendar and personal time tracker) to unique apps that deploy information in new ways, like Twhirl, which provides a desktop client for Twitter. Other well-regarded Adobe AIR apps include Agile Agenda, AOL Top 100 Videos, Doomi, eBay Desktop, MiniTask and TweetDeck.
Adobe AIR Versus Other Online-Desktop Hybrids: Like Adobe AIR, Google Gears also enables online apps like Gmail or the Zoho application suite (Zoho Writer or Zoho Sheet) to be used offline like a desktop application. However, Google Gears uses JavaScript as its underlying programming framework. Although Adobe AIR has sky-high potential as a software platform, the future of online-desktop hybrid apps is too dynamic to ascertain whether Adobe AIR will forge any kind of true market dominance.
Whether you are a typical computer user or a developer, Adobe AIR is an exciting technology worth trying out. Check out some apps like Twhirl or Klok, or try to build one yourself.
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